2.3 COVID‑19 response and recovery support Finding 13. COVID‑19 response: With the outbreak of the COVID‑19 pandemic, UNDP proactively reprogrammed and redirected its efforts to support national response and recovery efforts. UNDP efforts have focused on pandemic impact assessment, infection prevention and control, and developing initiatives for those at risk of being “left behind”. The support in COVID‑19 response has been well appreciated by partners. UNDP very proactively adjusted its programme to respond to the COVID‑19 pandemic. Additional COVID‑19 response activities were added to ongoing interventions and new programming areas emerged. As mentioned under finding 4, UNDP provided support in the area of health care waste management, including training to health personnel and quarantine and isolation centres on how to effectively manage waste to prevent infections, developing policy briefs and organizing sensitization campaigns on infection prevention and control protocols. UNDP organized various sensitization campaigns which made deliberate efforts to reach vulnerable groups including people with disabilities (through disability‑friendly communication materials), people living with HIV, and incarcerated people (through empowering prison officials/wardens with relevant knowledge, skills and tools on COVID‑19 prevention). UNDP reported that around 200,000 people have been sensitized to prevent COVID‑19 stigmatization.108 Recognizing the importance of having reliable data to inform government interventions, UNDP has provided support to the Ghana Statistical Services in conducting a number of surveys, including: (i) the COVID‑19 Business Tracker Survey in May‑June 2020 which highlighted the considerable impact of the pandemic on businesses and workers,109 and suggested policies and services to support firms in the short and medium term; (ii) the Agribusiness Tracker Survey110 which built on the COVID‑19 Business Tracker to enable the comparison of data over time; and (iii) the COVID‑19 Local Economies Tracker111, which examined the economic and social effects of COVID‑19 on localities to inform their recovery actions. Key informant interviews demonstrated the appreciation of government and development partners for this important support by UNDP, which informed interventions to mitigate negative impacts and assist businesses and communities in surviving the pandemic and building resilience. In addition to assessing the impact of the pandemic, UNDP also provided support in the preparation of COVID‑19 recovery plans. At national level, and as part of UN system efforts, UNDP and other UN agencies developed the socio‑economic response and recovery plan.112 At local level, UNDP provided support to five MMDAs to develop their COVID‑19 Recovery Plans to enhance resilience against local and external shocks. These plans served as the basis for the preparation of the Integrated Financing Frameworks at the five MMDAs. This work will be discussed in more detail in Finding 14.
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UNDP Ghana, Annual report 2020. The survey found that around 770,000 workers (25.7 percent of the total workforce) had their wages reduced and about 42,000 employees were laid off during the partial lockdown. The survey, funded by the German government, collected data from about 8000 agribusinesses across Ghana and the results were released in June 2021. The findings revealed an increase in the estimated number of job losses for agribusiness workers, from 51,111 during the lockdown to 78,412 in the post‑lockdown period. In the same vein, workers with reduced wages increased from 175,255 during the lockdown period to 267,211 between May 2020 and January 2021. The data however also showed some positive trends, with digital technology beginning to play a significant role in the operations of the firms including in the form of internet marketing and mobile money. The survey covered 2770 communities in all sixteen regions of Ghana. Different from the Business Tracker, the Local Economies Tracker focused on the impact of the pandemic on communities, highlighting the challenges to inform policy and interventions. The UN System in Ghana – Building back better from COVID‑19: Common Country Analysis (CCA) and Socio‑economic Response and Recovery Plan (SERRP).
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